'Turtle protector' finds similarities between this county, his island

By Rose Hooper

Pedro Lima Nobre de Carralho does. A native of the island off the coast of West Africa, de Carralho is spending seven weeks in the United States as the guest of Suzanne Fullar.

Last year, Fullar, a former Peace Corps volunteer, was in Principe and met de Carralho, who was working on a special turtle project. Impressed by this young man and his work, she invited him to visit her in America, and this summer he had the chance to take her up on her offer.

"I wanted to come here to perfect my English," said de Carrolho, who fluently speaks seven other languages.

While here, he became amazed at the similarities between his home and this mountain region. "You have so many plants that only grow here and need to be protected; on my island, it's the same," he said.

"You also have eagles and the peregine falcon that need to be protected. For us, it's the gray parrot," said de Carralho, who is fascinated by the many people here who have bird feeders. Protecting the lush, green natural resources in both places is very similar, he said, as is protecting those resources against haphazard development.

"I like your idea of a national park; I plan to take that idea back to Principe with me," he said. And like the park, the most visited one in the United States, his island thrives on a tourist economy. "When I first came to North Carolina, I thought it would be so different from my home, and I thought that because I am black, many people might not talk to me. But everyone is so friendly and talks to me," he said.

In Principe, Fullar said de Carralho is known as "the turtle protector."

"When the big olive ridley sea turtles come to the beach to lay their eggs, Pedro is there to help them," she said, describing the young man's job. "Before anybody can come and steal them, Pedro gathers the eggs and takes them to a laboratory to protect them. When they hatch, he tags the turtles for identification; after five days, he takes them back to the sea."

"It's an amazing thing to watch," de Carralho said of his turtle release. "Every one of them heads out to sea. Not a single one turns around and tries to go back to the beach.

"When they know the turtles are laying, people come to the beach and try to get the eggs ­ they like to eat the eggs. And lots of people like to eat the turtles so they try to kill them, too. Then, if they don't eat them, they kill the turtles to get the shells to make jewelry."

Aside from man, the turtles chance death from trash on the beach, shrimp nets, whales and boat propellers. It's a rough world for the turtles, without de Carrolho's help, Fullar said. But here's the sad part. Funding for the turtle protection project is disappearing, just like the turtles.

To find out more about the Step Up program, contact ned_stepup@yahoo.com.

De Carralho said his trip to America has made him realize how important it is worldwide to instill a respect for all living creatures and natural environments. The turtle protector will be here until the end of the month, and then he will return to his tropical paradise.

Back to Archive: 08/16/01.